British Informers

By Jenny Bartholomay

As the peace process continued to take shape in Northern Ireland in the early 2000s, the discovery of double agents in the IRA who served as British informers greatly increased feelings of resentment and paranoia on both sides of the conflict. One of the most significant events was a break in at the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Castlereagh complex, as the thieves who carried out the heist stole information regarding hundreds of British informers including a high-profile member of the IRA known as “Steak Knife.” Since the IRA was known for its lack of tolerance towards informants or “touts,” the leaking of this information not only increased distrust within the IRA, but it also posed a significant threat to members who collaborated with the British. The Castlereagh heist also had major implications for the British, as their handling of informants who killed in order to keep their cover led many to believe the state was complicit in murders the IRA was blamed for. By focusing on these tensions, Keefe reveals the “entanglement of lies” that persisted throughout the peace process in Northern Ireland and made reconciliation difficult to achieve (Keefe, 315).

Murals across Northern Ireland serve as evidence of the resentment Republicans felt towards the British because of their ethically-questionable informant network. For instance, two memorials in Belfast are dedicated to Pat Finucane, a lawyer who advised several Republicans and was killed when three gunmen entered his house based on information gathered by Brian Nelson, an IRA member who secretly defected to the British. The murals present Finucane as a “human rights activist,” “targeted by British establishment” and “executed by Unionist death squads,” leaving no question how Republicans felt about Nelson’s collusion with the British state to take out someone who was only tangentially involved with IRA members (“Belfast – Nationalist mural on Ard Na Va Road, memorial to Pat Finucane”). Additionally, the constant visual reminder of unresolved conflicts like the Finucane murder the mural creates makes reconciliation even more difficult. 

As IRA members struggled to come to terms with unfaithful members within their ranks and the losses they experienced as a result, British leaders also realized they had created a complicated and unethical intelligence network. Keefe includes British prime minister David Cameron’s comment in 2012 that there was “frankly shocking levels of state collusion” during and after the Troubles, demonstrating how Brits continued to struggle with their role in the conflict (Keefe, 326). That involvement in the Troubles continued to be a problem ten years after the Castlereagh break-in and even longer since the murder of Pat Finucane speaks to the significance the issue had in both Republican and Unionist spheres, as it clearly was not something that was resolved in the early stages of the peace process. Ultimately, the discovery of British informers likely drew out reconciliation efforts to an even longer timeline because it created dilemmas on both sides and provided Republicans with additional grievances to hold out against the British for.

References:

Merron, Hannah. Belfast – Nationalist Mural on Ard Na Va Road, Memorial to Pat Finucane. Sept. 2009. http://www.repository.cam.ac.uk, doi:10/219120.